I'm going to use my cat and dog to give you as an example here (stick with me, there is a reason for me sharing this).

My cat has lived with either my sister or me since he was a kitten he's 10+ now and he rules the house. I adopted a rescue dog in November 2021 who went from living on the streets to a kennel for the first 1.5 years of her life until she came to live with me and she thought she would rule the house too.

Before Cassie (my dog) came to live with me I had this big and very naïve idea that her and Tom (my cat) would take a little while to get to know each other (a few weeks) and then we would be this happy little family....

How wrong I was!

They HATED each other and couldn't even be left alone with a gate in between them for the first 12 months of living together! Then gradually they could be in the same room but it always ended up with hisses and barking, unless I was in the middle with treats but as soon as the treats stopped they were at it again.

So if you had asked me even 3 months ago if they could ever just relax in the same room with each other I would have defeatedly said to you that no, that's never going to happen.

They just don't get along so my house will always be split into the 'cats side' and the dogs side' and my time would always be split the same. I was ready to give up!

I persisted with it, even though I was really starting to feel like it was never going to happen....

And then little miracles started happening, they would both lay opposite each other in my office with me while I was working and there was no drama.

Then we'd all be in the living room together and although they still follow each other around the living room gradually they would both climb onto the couch (one either side) and it wasn't a battle of who was getting the attention

Then finally they started getting onto the bed, no hissing or barking and just...RELAXED!

Nearly 15 long months after Cassie came to live with me we finally have success!

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT'S LIKE IN BUSINESS FOR A LOT OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS!

When you start out you have big ideas and dreams of what you're going to do in your business, how the customers are going to be queuing up to work with you because YOU know how much value you can add for them and how much you can help them...

And then you start your business and it's crickets! You're working hard, marketing yourself, networking, close to burnout and feeling like giving up and then gradually little miracles will start to happen but it's usually right before these little miracles start happening that people give up (like I nearly did with my cat and dog).

It's the same with small businesses, we all have ups and downs and the downs are tough! The last few years especially have been really tough for small business owners so getting up and motivating yourself every day to keep going, stay positive, keep on top of how you're connecting with your customers and how you're serving them as well as keeping a roof over your head, the bills paid and cash in the business can seem impossible at times. A lot business owners are working close to burnout constantly with the stress of running their small businesses over the past few years and it's no wonder people consider giving up.

If you're going through an especially tough time it's very easy to feel like giving up and focusing on everything that's wrong instead of starting to think outside of the box on:

How you can grow your business

Where are your potential customers hanging out?

How can you add value

And

Do people know how you can help them?